Blog

Women’s Groups Work – Maternal Deaths Reduced by 55%

Ruth Duebbert, Women and Children First’s Head of Policy and Advocacy, has been hobnobbing with the great and the good in the Houses of Parliament. Here she tells us why.

I’ve just been to an event hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health with Women and Children First and UCL’s Institute for Global Health to mark the publication of a Lancet report illustrating that women’s groups can dramatically reduce maternal and newborn deaths in the poorest communities.

Having analysed seven trials conducted in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Malawi we’re finding that women’s groups can dramatically reduce maternal and newborn deaths in the poorest communities. The findings from the seven studies showed that maternal deaths fell by as much as 55% for maternal deaths and 33% for newborn deaths when more than a third of pregnant women participated in the groups.

In launching these latest findings we were thrilled to be joined by representatives from the UK government, parliamentarians, NGOs, academics and donor agencies.

Baroness Jenny Tonge, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health (pictured above), opened the event reminding participants that around 270,000 women worldwide die every year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth and nearly three million infants do not survive the first month of life. In sub Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, more than 70% of all births for the poorest women happen at home. Community interventions are needed to increase demand for health services and protective practices for mothers and newborns at home.

London Marathon 2013: Runners Saving Lives

Sunday 21 April 2013 - the day of the Virgin London Marathon. 35,000 runners crossed the start line.  Three of them have changed the lives of women and their newborns in Africa and Asia.  Between them so far, they have raised just over £10,000 to give knowledge and power to those women who are most likely to suffer a crisis in childbirth.

Check out these images and tell us that running a marathon isn't just the best day of your whole life!!  Then This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you'd like to be part of Team Women and Children First for Marathon 2014..

That's Peter on the far left, Sam in the middle

And Sam's mum in the 'So Proud Of Sam 21.4.13' t shirt.

Paul and Sam before	Sam and Paul 26 Miles later - no difference really!!
Sam and his mum - we're all so proud of Sam	Here is Peter, having just completed his second Marathon in 2 weeks

Thank you all of you who sponsored Peter, Sam and Paul.  Your support is changing lives. And thank you again (and again) to our wonderful running team.  Peter, Sam, Paul - you guys are amazing.

The Big Give Charities Raffle: Save Lives

Buy a raffle ticket from the Women and Children First page on theBigGive

96p of your ticket cost comes direct to Women and Children First and you could win one of the fabulous prizes below!  If you buy 5 tickets, you could pay for a woman to attend a woman's group for a whole year.  Follow the link on the image, then press the blue 'buy raffle ticket' arrow.

Why is Paul running 26.2 Miles to Save Lives of Mothers and Babies?

On Sunday 21 April 2013 a team of 5 runners will complete the Virgin London Marathon, raising funds to save lives and reduce infant and maternal mortality.  Here are the words of Paul, the third of our runners to write something for our blog. Keep coming back to the blog to hear from our other runners. And, please, support Paul by visiting his fundraising page.  These are his words:

On the 7th March 2007 my wife Trudy went into labour with our second child.  All was going well for a while but then things changed very quickly and the midwife decided Trudy needed to be rushed down for an urgent epidural as everything wasn't happening as it should be.

Suddenly there were consultants and midwives everywhere pushing Trudy along on her bed to the other side of the ward. Not having been told what the complications were you can imagine my stress levels over the worry for Trudy and our unborn baby.

As soon as Trudy was re-positioned in the surgical room, the midwife checked the baby one more time and cancelled the epidural as baby had decided not to wait any longer and was born 3 minutes later.

Our beautiful daughter Erin was born weighing a healthy 8lbs.
Thankfully everything turned out well but for a short period of time the fear of not knowing and what if took over.

I am blessed to have witnessed my beautiful wife give birth to both of our beautiful and healthy children, now aged 9 and 7 years. We had the support of regular medical care for both the births.

Unfortunately this is not always the case for others, particularly those living in the poorest parts of the world where Women and Children First do their work.

This is why I have decided to run the Virgin London Marathon 2013. If my wife can put herself through two child births, then 26.2 miles is not too much to ask in return to support the great charity Women and Children First.

Please help me across the line by visiting my fundraising page - I appreciate every penny of sponsorship I am receiving and every penny makes a difference. Thank you.

Paul Hutchinsons' Fundraising Page